At this online creative event you will meet 16 amazing Artist/Teacher/Mentor/Guides as well experience some of the magic they share with the world. Each teacher will be offering up a lesson FREE (live for 24 hours) to inspired you, to stimulate your own creative practice and/or learn new techniques and approaches. So much goodness!!

This workshop is for anyone who creates or feels the desire to create, who wishes to be inspired, who wishes to explore with curiousity, who wants to play in the field of possibilities and dance with the muses and their brilliance. This is for you brilliant creative soul.

Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness.

— Anni Albers

Retreat

To draw in, a place of refuge to nurture and tend the soul with all the good things of life- beauty, community, creativity, expansion & joy.

To drink from the well of in*Spiration and be renewed.

Creative

to take part in the magic of manifesting the brilliance of the imagination, to tap into source & in*Spiration, to live in wonder and awe, to dance with curiosity.

Bring some friends:

Does this sound like inspiration overload with so much to take in in two days? Consider it just a taster, a degustation of media and materials and a bridge into the Ongoing Retreat which you can take at your own pace allowing time to go deeper, to assimilate what you have learned and to keep you inspired and creating.

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Laly Mille

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Fonda Clark Haight

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Amanda Grace

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Galia Alena

The FREE weekend retreat is now finished but you can still join us for the Ongoing Retreat.A BIG THANK YOU to all who came and played♥♥♥

How it Works

On July 8th & 9th we will be holding a FREE ONLINE EVENT- The Creative Retreat. Each day you will have access to 8 plus lessons from a range of amazing artists and teachers. Each lesson will be available for you to watch and participate in for 24 hours from its airing time (a time table will be emailed out to the participants before the event).

If you wish to have longer access to the lessons please join us in the Ongoing Retreat for extended access plus a whole lot of other amazing lessons.

Join Us

To join us all you need to do is register with your email address and before the retreat begins you will be sent access details to the FREE EVENT.

Community

Join us in our private Facebook group where you will be able to share what you create, see what others are creating from the retreat and discuss your creative journey with like minded creatives.

ONGOING Retreat

We believe that your creative practice should not be limited to just one weekend but inspired to be an ongoing part of your life. Sign up for the Ongoing Retreat to gain access to the Creative Retreat for a year. The Ongoing Retreat includes a new lesson each week for 5 months from the artist/teachers to keep your creative practice flowing and inspired.

The FREE weekend retreat is now finished but you can still join us for the Ongoing Retreat.A BIG THANK YOU to all who came and played♥♥♥

 Creativity is contagious, pass it on

— Albert Einstein

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Eli Trier

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Fonda Clark Haight

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Renata Loree

Art is Magic presents the Creative Retreat- Katrina Koltes

Creative Retreat Weekend lessons

Each teacher will be offering a class designed to inspire and guide you through some creative play, art making and/or techniques. Each lessons will be available for Free for 24 hours on the Creative Retreat weekend. Too much inspiration to absorb in one weekend? All these lessons will be available in the Ongoing Creative Retreat as well as bonus lessons from each of the teachers.

The FREE weekend retreat is now finished but you can still join us for the Ongoing Retreat.These lessons are now all available in the Ongoing Retreat♥♥♥

And so we begin... Your art, Your Expression, Your Way

Warming up with Wise Effort

In our first lesson (Day 1- Saturday) we will be warming up, loosening up, making marks, experimenting and exploring both our materials and our own ways all in preparation for what is to come. We will release expectations and judgements to make space for curiousity and wonder.

Beyond Words

In our second lesson (Day 2- Sunday) we will be taking the gifts of our mark making to the page and using them to create unique journal spreads full of our own art, our own expression, our own souls. What wants to be said beyond words.

Touring your imagination

Join me in this exploration of the internal world of emotion, imagination and art. Together we will explore techniques for getting in touch with your intuition and the subconscious messages and stories you can access, in order to know yourself, and add meaning to your art. These lessons will help you access that subconscious part of yourself that wants to be heard. The world of the imagination and the heart are such a rich, deep inspiration, not only for your artwork, but also for your journey thru life.

Fantastical Faces

Painting faces is such a connective and creative process! I often begin with a reference photo and then my painting takes a wild turn somewhere along the way and I end up with a very different portrait than whathad initially imagined... I LOVE when that happens! Won't you join me on a journeycreating colorful, expressive and exciting portraits? During this colorful adventure, I'll share some of my favorite art making techniques and tips on color, expressive mark making, and how to manipulate photos in apps to generate fresh ideas for old and new paintings. I cant wait to share this journey with you!

Essential Energy

A guided creative journaling exploration to re-center, remember, reflect and rejoice in heart+soul truth. This lesson is inspired by core astrological energies unique to each of us. The beauty is that the personal meaning for you will come through - whether or not you know a thing about astrology or your personal chart.

Come Stick With Me!

What if the answers you have been seeking found their way in, through the back door of your heart? Are you willing to take a flight into the creative cosmos to see what wonders bubble up from the deep? Come join me on a blue ocean dive telling your story using simple figures in a comic book format looking for what you are calling out for and what is looking for you.

A Creativitea Time session- "Shadow & LIght" Plus "Just sit with it"

In this lesson we will explore the emotions coming up for us and allow ourselves to just sit with them and reveal them on the page providing a gentle space to just sit with what is. The encouragement is to be loose and release perfectionism, being with the feelings and giving them a place to rest.If you need someone to just sit with you and be, accepting you exactly as you are and how you’re feeling . . . you may find her on your page.

Harbour: The Art of Dwelling.

It's the age of information. Sometimes too much information. Every day we are exposed, often overexposed to the human drama. It's on a scale that's bound to break even the most hardy of souls. Sometimes the drama most sure to break us, is our own. And we find ourselves dwelling in turmoil. What do we do when overcome with energy that drains us? We create another kind of dwelling, that in which to seek harbour. Join me for a creative approach to personal retreat.

Painting the Eyes

The eyes are so full of depth, so mysterious yet some full of truth. There are so many subtleties and so much intrigue. In this lesson we will paint a close up of the eyes. We will learn to see the color, shape, reflection and expression. Eyes to me are the most compelling part of a portrait. Let’s explore them together.

Becoming Fluid

For this lesson we will be creating a page journal with watercolors or fluid acrylics and I'll be talking about my journals and sharing how I add to them

Studiofemme LUSH Embodied Arts: Summer Inner Alchemy Cards

As we heat up for summer, we will create a mini deck of Inner Alchemy Cards to help us explore and embody the energy of this sultry season! Join me for a luscious adventure in Sensual Collage as we feel our way into this fiery mojo. In our time together, we will create a 12 card mini Summer deck that you can use as tools to guide and inspire. Follow along the with the easy video tutorial and yummy card prompts to ignite your creative power this season!

Break Free

We all experience emotions and strong feelings all the time. Sometimes we need to express these feelings in some way or other, but for fear, we don’t, and we keep it to ourselves. I strongly believe that expressing our emotions through our art can be not only refreshing, but extremely satisfying, and even healing. We open that window into our feelings, that small peek into what is really happening behind the scenes. A glimpse into our soul.

In this lesson I share with you one of my methods of doing this by just letting go and trusting the process. I hope to inspire you to "Break free" and create expressive, emotional portraits, much like in my class "The art of expression".

Garden of Tranquility

In this course we’ll create a peaceful, mixed media garden where happiness and love reside. We’ll contemplate the people, thoughts and things that make us content and easily incorporate them into our art. Our gardens will surround us with the words and colors that create a feeling of serenity. Using a everyday household items beauty will bloom.

Rise

You’re invited to relax and take the time to feel and remember your wings… I believe we all have them, unique, beautiful and ready to lift us up towards the light anytime we need.

This lesson is born from my own desire to create a painting "just for me", a personal, daily reminder of my own wings. I’d love for you to come along so we can fly together!

In this lesson we’re going to gently and symbolically work our way up, layer after layer, from the underneath where our fears reside, to the warm golden light that awaits us above the clouds.

Supercharge Your Creativity with Rituals

Rituals are an underused superpower for artists, makers and creatives of all flavours. It's scientifically proven that our brains are exceedingly receptive to ritual in all forms, and this can be astonishing fruitful when we apply ritual to our creative practice. Rituals can, among other things: help us overcome creative blocks, channel inspiration, help us choose which idea to pursue next, help us to make creativity a part of our daily lives, understand our fears around making and sharing our work, and make us more mindful and intentional with what (and how) we create.

Sketch and Sculpt: Mini Botanical Mandala wall hangings.

In this lesson, you will be inspired by natures beauty to create a beautiful flower wall hanging for your home, using air-dry clay.Observing the uniqueness of a single flower, we will be inspired to sketch flower ‘mandala’ designs, to use as inspiration for our clay sculpture. We will then get to know the clay through molding, embossing designs and joining techniques. Our project today will be one finished ‘botanical mandala’ design in clay painted with acrylic paint so you can hang on your wall or give as a gift.

Ongoing Retreat

Your creative journey should not be limited to one weekend so we've created the ONGOING RETREAT PACKAGE. This includes extended access to the lesson from the weekend of the retreat as well as a new lesson sent out weekly over the next five months. Join us as we make Creative Retreat a practice to sustain our path, nurture our souls and support our creative unfolding.

Registration is now closed.

Bonus Lessons in the Ongoing Retreat

Below you will find just some of the lessons that will be shared over the Ongoing Retreat.

Creative Coeur-age

Presented by Galia Alena

In this lesson we will be taking ideas we explored in the previous lesson further to expand our own creative language of mark making and art making.

A Natural Light Palette

Presented by Laly Mille

This art is all about paying attention to light in your life, in your surroundings, in nature... and above all in YOU. Connecting with your inner light, so that you can infuse it into your art in your own natural and authentic way! The lesson contains:

Video 1 "White Magic": Is white really just plain white?... Experiment with different kinds of white to create a whole variety of white-on-white effects and add depth and light to your art.Video 2 "Soft Neutrals": Here I'm sharing all my favorite supplies and materials to play with an infinity of neutral tones. From warm browns to moody grays and every shade in-between, they are one of my favorite ingredients to create soft, subtle moods.Video 3 "Dark Beauty": Explore the richness of dark tones and create contrast that will make your light shine that much brighter.

Be brave

Presented by Katrina KoltesIn continuation to my first lesson, we continue to explore the power of visual story telling through our art. Sometimes we have subconscious feelings we can't really place, but are there nonetheless, weighing us down. When we begin to just let go, and play in our journal, not worrying about perfection, we leave space for those feelings to surface. I also believe that by using limited tools and color palette, again we can stay focused and let those emotions flow.

The Art of Dwelling

Presented by Amanda Grace

My strength as an artist, is in employing the creative process as a loving facilitator. Diving in deep to reclaim exiled parts and reframe personal narratives. It is a conscious inhabiting of the stories that empower and an unburdening of those which no longer serve us. One of the things my students say about my teaching is that rather than learning a repertoire of technique (there is some technique of course), they learn how to open the portals that connect them more deeply to their creativity, enabling them to express themselves in new and exciting ways. It's a deeper, more intentional kind of attendance to the process. In this part of our journey, I invite you to witness a process I engaged in with my 5 year old self and offer you the template for facilitating your own art of remembering."\

Mixing it Up with Multi Media

Presented by Jennifer BonneteauAs artists, we are always looking for new ways to push our work into new directions...new dimensions...new worlds. I have found that experimenting with color, shape and texture through the process of collage is one of the best ways to unlock new ideas and venture into exciting, unknown territories. In this extension of the Fantastical Faces lesson, we will be incorporating bits of origami paper, acrylic skins and metal leaf to add dimension, intrigue and shine to our pieces.

Sculpt and Paint: Mini Botanical Mandala wall hangings

Presented by Louise GaleIn this lesson, we will sketch two more beautiful flower designs which we will use for our air-dry clay 'botanical mandala' creations, then paint them using watercolors and acrylic paint. In addition, I have included a special meditation audio so you can relax, feel grounded and connect to a flower mandala design that is unique to you.

Continue your Calm.

Presented by Tiare Smith Woods

Continuing with the floral theme you’ll learn an AMAZING technique for creating, using additional household items. You’ll add wonderful techniques to your creative arsenal that you’ll be able to use again and again to make your own unique art. We’ll continue to explore your happy and bring forth words that will inspire and empower you to continue your calm

She Feels- Expressions & Gestures of Paper Dolls

Presented by Denise Daffara

This is a gentle exercise that can be ever so calming as you slow down to cut out the stencil... and then discover various moods glimpsed through the ‘limb shaped windows’ made by placing the stencil over your papers to see how they feel, in what ways do they differ from each other. Once the pieces are cut out, play with their placements to capture the essence you’re after. You might be surprised at how expressive they can be and feel. On a personal note, this was a very satisfying exercise to be with when grieving, at a time when words were few but these dolls spoke volumes in their gentleness.

Exploring Fear

Presented by Eli Trier

Creative fear is a tricky beast, and can show up in all sorts of unexpected ways. If you've ever suffered from perfectionism, procrastination, artist's block, self-doubt, or resistance, then there's a good chance you've come across creative fear.

In this lesson, we'll be exploring that fear and pulling all your creative monsters out from under the bed.

Using journaling prompts and other exercises, you'll be encouraged to unpack your beliefs around perfectionism and resistance, and reconnect with the reasons why you feel compelled to create. We'll be chatting with our inner critics and finding out what they're trying to protect us from, and we'll be rekindling our love for the materials we use to create our art. (N.B. this lesson is part of Eli's longer Make your Mark course).

Painting the Nose & Mouth

Presented by Lauren Rudolph

In this lesson we will create painted studies of the nose and mouth. Both the nose and the mouth are filled with character and expression. They say so much with their form, highlights, shadows and hues. Small details once seen, contribute so much to the story of the portrait. Creating visual stories through the features is a lesson in pushing beyond and going deeper. Let’s tell visual stories through their exploration.

The Zodiac Time Travel

Presented by Renata Loree

We are all born under a different sun, moon, stars and planets and these energies pulls us sideways, straightways, up ways and down ways, sometimes it is hard to make sense of it all. We know we are all different, but we want to get along and love each other. The sign that you were born under was explored and mapped out for you many many moons ago and it reveals a lot about you. The ancients noticed that the seasons and moon cycles carried similar attributes that were worthy following to make their life easier. They also noticed that certain planet’s positions affected people and their affairs differently. In a way it is like traveling by a roadmap that points to who you are. All the things you were afraid of or hiding from until this moment might not be your fault at all, and if knowing that, you can have something to work with. You will gain understanding about yourself that will not only reveal your weaknesses, but also your strengths. In this lesson we will explore our Zodiac sign we were born under and create a visual painting with all it’s attributes.

Smash ON!

Presented by Catt Geller

Cosmic Smash Booking personifies Art Is Magic! Making a Cosmic Smash Book pulls all of you in into the book. Every part of your senses become engaged in these highly personalized journals. I am going to show you how to enrich your journal processing in a way that deepens your existing work, help you find answers to questions that elude you, give you a place to ground when your feet are pulled out from you, give you a place to lay down intense feelings so you can get some space from them and create pages of joy that are uniquely you.

Studiofemme LUSH Embodied Arts: Fall Flow Inner Alchemy Cards

Presented by Mindy Tsonas

Falling into autumn is all about flowing with energy and emotion. You will receive 12 additional Alchemy Card prompts to move you into this juicy equinox season and help guide you during this time of wild transition and change.

Discovering Your Sacred Medicine Through Art

Presented by Chris Zydel

Each and every one of us has a unique soul gift or a superpower that we have cultivated in response to what I am calling a sacred wound. Your sacred wound is a challenging psychological or emotional issue that you have struggled with for a long time and tends to trip you up over and over again. And because it keeps recurring, you have a highly developed a relationship to that issue. You understand it deeply. And sometimes, often without even realizing it, you have evolved wisdom strategies and healing tactics to deal with that wound. These strategies, tactics, gifts and superpowers are what I am calling your sacred medicine. Your sacred medicine is something that heals you first and then can be offered as healing for others in your family, circles of support and wider community. In this class we will be using guided meditation, journal prompts and art making to do the holy work of discovering the sacred wound and then using the same tools to name, claim and joyfully celebrate your sacred medicine. You will need an art journal, a pen, your favorite art materials and a willingness to dive deep in order to participate. I recommend having things on hand like oil or chalk pastels, colored pencils, paint or collage materials.

There are other worlds than these

Presented by Fonda Clark Haight

Join me in this exploration of the internal world of emotion, imagination and art. Together we will explore techniques for getting in touch with your intuition and the subconscious messages and stories you can access, in order to know yourself, and add meaning to your art. These lessons will help you access that subconscious part of yourself that wants to be heard. The world of the imagination and the heart are such a rich, deep inspiration, not only for your artwork, but also for your journey thru life.

Using simple reflective prompts, you will reflect and honor how you relate to your matrilineal lineage stories and what 'Grandmother energy' means to you and your life's journey. Then, you will explore intuitively, through a guided visual exploration in your journal pages, to awaken meaningful connections, new insights and a deeper curiosity and sense toward your place in the unfolding flow of feminine wisdom and wonder. (NB. - this lesson was originally available in Spectrum 2015).

Wabi Sabi- a photographic exploration

Presented by Galia Alena

This lesson is a loved lesson from Camera Craft- the Art of Seeing. Here we explore the art of seeing the beauty of life through the lens of Wabi Sabi

What is life? It is a flash of firefly in the night. It is a breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is as the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.